2 States: The Story of My Marriage Read online

  ‘I was going to do that, soon.’ He swallowed hard.

  I kept my left elbow on the table and my palm on my forehead. I flipped through the slides in reverse to reach the first.

  ‘What?’ he said. ‘Anything wrong in what I’ve done?’

  I turned to him and gave a slight smile. ‘No, a few finishing touches left,’ I said.

  ‘So, how do we do it?’

  ‘Let’s start by you telling me what exactly you do at the bank. And then take me through these files.’

  I shut the laptop. For the next three hours I understood what a deputy district manager does at a public sector bank. Actually, there is a lot of work, contrary to my belief that government bank staff did nothing. However, a lot of the work is about reporting, approvals and maintaining certain records. It is more bureaucracy and less business.

  I yawned as he finished explaining how the staff-recruiting process works in his Egmore district. I looked at the wall clock. It was nine-thirty.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t even ask you for dinner,’ Mr Swaminathan said.

  ‘It’s OK, keep going. I’ll wash my face,’ I said and pulled back my chair.

  I came back from the bathroom and uncle had brought two steel plates and a bowl of lemon rice. He put the bowl in the microwave to heat the food. ‘Sorry, I can’t give you proper dinner tonight. I told the maid to make something simple,’ he said.

  ‘It’s fine,’ I said as I took the plates off him. I went to the kitchen. I picked up the curd and water. I saw the spoons but decided not to take them.

  ‘Manju?’ I asked as I returned to the table.

  ‘He ate already. He wakes up at four so he has to sleep now,’ uncle said.

  We ate in silence. For the first time in their house, I felt welcome. Sure, they’d given me breakfast and a lift to work three days a week. However, today was different. Uncle refilled my plate when I finished and poured water for me. We continued to work after dinner until he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

  ‘It’s eleven-thirty, I’d better go,’ I said. I shut down my laptop and stacked all the papers together.

  ‘Yes,’ uncle said as he looked at his watch. ‘I didn’t realise this would be so much work.’

  I came to the door and outlined the agenda.

  ‘Here’s the plan,’ I said. ‘Tomorrow we make a structure, so we at least have a title for all fifty slides that need to be there. The next day we will put the text. Day after we will start on the figures and charts.’

  We came out of the house.

  ‘It’s late. I will drop you?’ uncle said.

  ‘No, there are autos on the main road. Good night uncle, tell Manju I will see him day after.’

  ‘Thank you, Krish,’ uncle said as he waved me goodbye.

  ‘Anytime,’ I said.

  28

  I spent the next three evenings in the company of Mr Swaminathan. The Bank of Baroda Egmore district business plan had become the focus of my life. I brought some of uncle’s work to my own office and worked on it in the afternoon.

  ‘What are you working on?’ Bala said as we met near the common office printer where I had come to collect a printout of uncle’s presentation.

  ‘Personal research,’ I said as I clenched the sheets in my hand and ran back to my desk.

  It is uncanny, but I could tell Ananya’s call from the phone ring.

  ‘Hi hottie. How is it going?’

  ‘Did you know Bank of Baroda had no ATMs four years ago, but now there are over a dozen ATMs in Egmore alone,’ I said as I opened the twelfth slide of the presentation.

  ‘What?’ she said.

  ‘And in two years, there will be thirty,’ I said.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I am working on your dad’s presentation, in my office,’ I said and swivelled my chair to turn away from the monitor.

  ‘That’s why you are such a sweetie,’ she said.

  ‘I am stealing a talented MBA’s time paid for by Citibank. I could go to jail for this,’ I said.

  ‘How exciting! My lover goes to jail for me,’ she chuckled. ‘Manju told me you are there every evening until late. And today you took Manju’s morning tuitions, too. Take care of yourself.’

  ‘I’m fine. I rest in office. And the presentation should be done tonight.’

  ‘Cool. How’s the bonding with appa?’

  ‘Well, it is pretty business-like. But let’s just say, I saw him smile. I bit a whole chilli at dinner and ran to the kitchen. When I returned, he smiled for three whole seconds and I created it.’

  ‘With my dad, that’s huge,’ Ananya said. ‘He didn’t smile in any of his wedding pictures.’

  ‘Well, he had to marry your mom,’ I said.

  ‘Shut up,’ Ananya said.

  The peon came to me to say Bala had tried my extension and couldn’t reach. I told Ananya to hold.

  ‘Tell him I am with a prospective new client. Inviting them to the concert,’ I said. The peon nodded and left.

  ‘Concert?’ Ananya said.

  ‘It is a private client event. At Fisherman’s Cove,’ I said.

  ‘Fisherman’s Cove is nice. Can I come?’ she said.

  ‘Only if you have ten lakh to spare,’ I said.

  ‘Sure, my husband will send the cash,’ Ananya said.

  ‘Yeah, right after I execute my bank robbery. OK, now should I humour you or make sure your father doesn’t get laughed at in five days?’ I said.

  ‘Daddy first,’ she said. ‘I am back in three days.’

  ‘How is Thanjavur?’

  ‘Temples, Tamilians and a temperamental mother. Care?’ she said.

  ‘Maybe next time. What’s causing the temperamentalness?’ ‘Me, me and only me,’ Ananya said and laughed, ‘as is always the case.’

  ‘Really? What’s your crime now?’

  ‘I don’t have time for her. Which is true, as I’m all over the district in meetings the entire day. Of course, she also feels saying no to Harish is like declining the Nobel Prize. And so, that’s the dinner appetiser. Main course is a lecture on how I’ve abused my privilege of being allowed to study further. Dessert is usually tears. I have to go to Pondicherry next week. No way I am taking her.’

  ‘You have to go?’

  ‘Just a day trip.’

  ‘Hey, isn’t Fisherman’s Cove on the way to Pondicherry?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, why?’

  ‘Good, I should take the initiative and check out the venue. I’ll come with you that day,’ I said. Anything to get out of office.

  ‘Oh, cool,’ she said.

  The peon came again.

  ‘Yes,’ I turned to the peon after asking Ananya to hold.

  ‘Sir is asking which client?’ peon said.

  I looked around. Outside the office window there were several hoardings. I saw one for fireworks.

  ‘Standard Fireworks, Sivakasi. OK?’ I said.

  The peon nodded.

  ‘Bye sweetie, am I disturbing you?’

  ‘Yeah, but what is life without being disturbed by the right people,’ I said.

  ‘Thank you. Love you,’ Ananya said.

  ‘I love you, too’ I said and hung up the phone. The peon stood in front of me, his eyes big after my last line.

  ‘Why are you still here?’ I said.

  ‘Sorry, sir,’ the peon said and left.

  I left my office early to finish the presentation at uncle’s house. We had come to the end with only final formatting left. I passed a CD store in Mylapore. Some music would be nice while I completed the presentation, I thought. I went in.

  ‘What you want, sir?’ the shopkeeper said.

  I scanned the shelves filled with Tamil CDs in psychedelic covers resembling crime novels. ‘What non-Tamil CDs do you have?’ I asked.

  He shook his head in disappointment. ‘Non-Tamil you go to Nungambakkam, sir.’ But the shop attendant looked through his collection to find something.

  ‘OK here,’ he sa